Saturday, June 2, 2012

"What is particular to the Christian faith is the belief that
this one God has graciously reached out to the world in love in the person of
Jesus Christ in order to heal, redeem, and liberate – in a word, to save. The experience of salvation coming from God
through Jesus in the power of the Spirit sets up such a powerful encounter with
the Holy that it requires a new language.
This language is Trinitarian. Far
from being a definition or a description, Trinitarian language is an
interpretation of who God is in the light of the glad tiding of salvation. It lifts up God’s gracious ways active in the
world through Jesus Christ and the Spirit, and finds there the fundamental revelation
about God’s own being as a self-giving communion of love. The point of Trinitarian language is to
acclaim the living God as the mystery of salvation. Whether found in scripture, creed, liturgy,
doctrine, or theology, it is Christian code tapping out the belief that the
living God made known through Jesus and the Spirit is dynamic Love encompassing
the universe who acts to save. At its
most basic, it is saying, very simply, “God is love (1 John 4:16)." (Elisabeth Johnson, Quest for the Living God, pp. 223-224)

"A rationalistic Trinitarian theology, dysfunctional and
divorced from Christian life and ethics, has little practical effect. The key to practical doctrine resides in the
reign of God, which Jesus preached and enacted.
As glimpsed in his parables and practices, the reign of God is a
gracious rule of saving love and communion.
As a place where God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven, it sets
up a new kind of community where “the least of these” brothers and sisters are
included, a gathering where the Samaritan woman, the tax collector, and the
leper are equally at home. In this
community, tyranny is countermanded in the light of God’s self-giving ways;
male and female are equal partners, as are Jew and Greek. Justice, peace, and the well-being of all
creatures are the goal. If we are not
living out the types of relationships that serve this pattern of the truth of
the reign of God, then we haven’t got a clue about who God is. Knowing God is impossible unless we enter
into a life of love and communion with others. To say that the Trinity is inherently practical is not to
imply that this belief gives immediate solutions to war and violence,
blueprints to eliminate hunger, or concrete remedies of inequality. Rather, it functions as a source of vision to
shape our actions in the world, a criterion to measure the fidelity of our
lives, and a basis for resisting every form of oppression that diminishes
community." ( Elisabeth Johnson, Quest for the Living God, pp. 222-223)

Bridget Mary's Reflection:

Elisabeth Johnson's brilliant understanding of Trinity as God's self-giving love that is manifest in community, specifically where"the least of these brothers and sisters are included" is the experience of millions today who are on the margins of church and society. It is the place where God 's love is most often experienced, where we know ourselves and others as the beloved of God, where we encounter others as spiritual companions on the journey to justice, equality and peace! It is where the face of God is revealed.

"Much has been made in recent months about an ad placed in The New York
Times urging liberal and nominal Catholics to "quit the church" because it
can never be changed from within, and to participate in it is to cooperate with
its oppressive system. The ad was paid for by an organization called the
Freedom from Religion Foundation. But the more I reflect on both the ad and the
behavior of our hierarchy lately, there is part of me that wouldn't be surprised
if we learned that the Vatican itself had secretly paid for the
advertisement.With its attacks on same-sex marriage, battle against
providing adequate health care for women, hostile takeover of LCWR and
inquisition into the Girl Scouts, the hierarchy continues to make itself an
embarrassing media spectacle in a society that long ago refused to accept the
teaching on birth control, believes in women's equality and increasingly supports same-sex marriage. Even those who
are not affected directly by these ideological battles find it odious that
hierarchy is choosing to spend precious money and resources on lawsuits against
the Obama administration and bizarre new campaigns like the Fortnight for Freedom.Church leaders seem hell-bent on
disenfranchising the greatest number of laity possible.The question is, Why?
Why is the hierarchy acting like the new boss who so wants to rid himself of the
staff he inherited, he makes it as uncomfortable as possible for them to stay in
the organization? Has the church leadership made a decision to downsize? Have
they realized that the $2.2 billion in sex abuse settlements and the rapidly
dwindling number of priests in the United States has rendered the church unable
to provide for the needs of 72 million Catholics?Perhaps all of these
ideological battles -- which, we are told, are grounded in Pope Benedict's
desire for a smaller, more faithful church -- are really all about the money, or
lack thereof. More than one commentator has suggested that the
endgame in the crackdown on LCWR could be to recapture property, assets and
pension reserves from religious communities.

Unfortunately, if the hierarchy
continues on this path of mass disenfranchisement, what will result isn't a
smaller, more faithful church, but an insular, countercultural sect. .."

Washington,
DC -
Today, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), an umbrella group
representing 80% of the 57,000 nuns in the United States, released a statement regarding the recent Vatican mandate
stating "the sanctions imposed were disproportionate to the concerns raised and
could compromise their ability to fulfill their mission." The
statement continued, "the board believes
it is imperative that these matters be addressed by the entire church community
in an atmosphere of openness, honesty, and integrity."

"We
commend the sisters on their prayerful discernment of the Vatican's mandate. It
speaks to the faithfulness of the sisters and the reason why Catholics across
the country continue to stand behind them," stated Jim FitzGerald, spokesperson
for the Nun Justice Project and Executive Director of Call To Action.

Since
the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith first announced its
crackdown on LCWR and U.S. religious communities, thousands of faithful
Catholics have rallied in support of the nuns in over 50 vigils across the
country and more the 52,000 have signed the Change.org 'Support the Sisters' petition organized by the Nun Justice Project.

"We
are calling for the mandate against the sisters to be rescinded," stated Erin
Saiz Hanna, spokesperson for the Nun Justice Project and Executive Director of
the Women's Ordination Conference. "At this time in our church's history when
the Vatican is beset by scandal and the U.S. church hierarchy is on trial for
sex abuse, church officials should stop trying to reform the nuns and reform
themselves, instead."

As
LCWR continues to deliberate their response prior to their meetings with the
Holy See on June 12 and leading up to their annual conference this August,
Catholics will continue stand in solidarity with the sisters.

The
Nun Justice Project plans to reach its goal of 57,000 signatures, one name for
every U.S. woman religious, by the time they deliver the petition to the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops during their annual meeting in Atlanta on
June 13. In addition, Catholics nationwide will deliver letters in support of
nuns to their local diocesan offices.

Catholics
are encouraged to redirect their Peter's Pence contribution, an annual second
collection made by Roman Catholics toward the expenses of the Holy See normally
made at the end of June, to local women religious communities. To date, over 34K
has already been pledged in support of the sisters.

"We
will continue to support the sisters in the months ahead through our prayer and
faithful witness. They have supported us and now it's our time to support them,"
concluded FitzGerald.

Bridget Mary's Reflection:

May Catholics redirect their giving from Peter's Pence and donate millions for the cause of Nun Justice and their many ministries of care for the needy. I hope that religious communities declare independence from Vatican control and form 501-c-3's so that they will NOT function within this patriarchal model of domination and clerical control. This choice would inspire millions of Catholics. The people of God are the church, not the hierarchy or Vatican alone. I pray that many Sisters will embrace their vocations as women called to a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals. Just think of the joy "nunpriests" would bring to thousands of faith communities in the U.S. and elsewhere!

"Calgary’s only female priest is a member of a small but growing movement that is challenging the very nature of what the Roman Catholic Church considers sacred. There’s something both ironic and prophetic about meeting a Roman Catholic priest at a Humpty’s restaurant. With its grim, 1990s-inspired decor and large booths that swallow you up, the eatery best known for “breakfast that never ends,” regularly serves as a weekend confessional for morning-after tales of wild, alcohol-fuelled nights. Tonight, it’s filled with mostly older folks, many alone, ordering steak sandwiches and either quietly pondering life, it appears, or reading trashy newspapers, or both.

And then there’s that famous egg: proud, Humpty sat on a wall until he had his fall and, at that point, no one could put him back together again. The nursery rhyme’s themes of descent and finality are weighty symbols for what could happen to an institution which critics, and even many supporters feel is in a time of crisis.

As she (yes, she) comes through the Humpty’s doors, the first thing I notice about Monica Kilburn Smith is the brilliant white hair that frames an incongruously youthful face. The 51-year-old Calgarian greets me warmly but cautiously before unbuttoning her long black coat. Kilburn Smith was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on May 29th, 2008.

She is the only female priest in Calgary, one of eight such priests (and one female bishop) in Canada and one of more than 100 in North America and Europe who are part of the Roman Catholic Womenpriests (RCWP), an international group seeking to reform the Church.

“The phrase I use when asked why I do this is ‘a loving rage and a raging love for the church, and a deep caring for women’” says Kilburn Smith. “The church should be at the forefront, leading the way and saying ‘Women are as holy as men. Women hear God’s call like [men] do, and let’s listen to them.’ But they don’t.”

Kilburn Smith and other women priests believe their ordinations are “sacramentally valid” because they were ordained in the same “apostolic succession” that ordains men as Roman Catholic priests. The RCWP movement began in 2002 with the Danube Seven, a group of seven women who were secretly ordained on the river in Central Europe by male bishops in good standing with the Church. Two of the seven women were later ordained bishops by several male bishops in Europe so that they could continue the movement. The identities of the male bishops cannot be revealed because they continue to work within the Church and would face excommunication. For their part, the Danube Seven women were excommunicated six months after being ordained..."

"A harsh Vatican critique of the
organization representing most U.S. women religious was based on unsubstantiated
accusations, comes from a flawed process and has caused "scandal and pain
throughout the church," the sisters' group said in a statement this
morning.

The statement, issued Friday by
the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), came after three days of
meetings among the group’s national board and is the first official public
response to the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith's April 18
assessment of the organization, which represents some 80 percent of U.S.
Catholic sisters.

That stinging Vatican assessment
ordered LCWR to revise its statutes, programs and affiliations and place itself
under the authority of Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain.

Friday’s statement said that
during their meetings this week LCWR national board members raised concerns
about “both the content of the doctrinal assessment and the process by which it
was prepared” and that the group’s president and executive director will soon
travel to Rome to “raise and discuss” their concerns with Vatican
officials.

“Board members concluded that the
assessment was based on unsubstantiated accusations and the result of a flawed
process that lacked transparency,” the statement continues.

“Moreover, the sanctions imposed
were disproportionate to the concerns raised and could compromise their ability
to fulfill their mission. The report has furthermore caused scandal and pain
throughout the church community, and created greater polarization.”

Ending by saying that the LCWR
board understands that the Vatican’s move has “deeply touched” Catholics and
non-Catholics alike, the statement says the board “believes that the matters of
faith and justice that capture the hearts of Catholic sisters are clearly shared
by many people around the world.”

The Vatican’ April critique
sparked a widespread showing of support for Catholic sisters, with prayer vigils
being held outside cathedrals across the country and statements of support
appearing in numerous national news outlets.

First news of the Vatican’s order
came in a press release from the U.S. bishops’ conference April 18, which
announced that the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, headed
by Cardinal William Levada, had given the order for LCWR’s revision.

The Vatican congregation had begun
an investigation of the group, known as a "doctrinal assessment,” in 2009. The
release from the bishops’ conference also stated that Sartain had been appointed
“archbishop delegate” for LCWR and had been granted wide-ranging authority over
the group.

According to that release, Sartain
is to be assisted in that role by Bishop Leonard Blair of Toledo, Ohio, and
Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Ill.

The involvement of the U.S.
bishops’ conference in the initial press release on the subject has led to
speculation regarding its influence in the Vatican decision, with some press
accounts saying key U.S. bishops may have had particular input.

Mercy Sr. Mary Ann Walsh, director
of media relations for the bishops’ conference, would only say in an April
interview that the order “came from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith.”

Levada, Sartain, Blair, and
Paprocki have not responded to repeated requests for comment on the
matter.

In a terse statement April 19,
LCWR leadership said they had been “stunned” by the Vatican’s order. An email
the same day sent by the group to the heads of each of the congregations it
represents said LCWR leadership had been in Rome for an annual meeting with
members of the Vatican congregation when it was first told of the news.

When LCWR leaders arrived for that
meeting, said the email, they were informed that the congregation had already
communicated the Vatican order to the U.S. bishops’ conference.

According to Friday’s statement,
LCWR’s president, Franciscan Sr. Pat Farrell, and executive director, St. Joseph
Sr. Janet Mock, are planning to return to Rome June 12 to meet with Levada and
Sartain. The statement also says LCWR is planning to organize regional meetings
with its members to in order to “determine its response” to the Vatican
order.

LCWR members are also expected to
discuss the matter in the group’s annual gathering, to be held in
August.

One of the things expected to be
discussed in those meetings is whether the group might leave the formal
canonical structures of the church and reform itself as a non-profit
organization.

According to the April 18 document
from the Vatican congregation, Sartain is to be given authority over LCWR in
five areas, including revision of its statues, plans and programs, and “offering
guidance on the application of liturgical texts.”

That letter also identified three
major areas of concern the congregation had with the sisters’ group, including
supposed "corporate dissent" in the congregation regarding the church's sexual
teachings and a supposed "prevalence of certain radical feminist themes
incompatible with the Catholic faith" present in some of the organizations
programs and presentations."

Thursday, May 31, 2012

http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/amid-doubts-cleveland-bishop’s-leadership-he-suspends-priest
"In an interview with NCR, Marrone said he understood the document to mean he was suspended. In a letter to his congregation, Morrone explained that in a May 22 meeting with Lennon, the bishop expressed his wish that Marrone reconcile with the diocese and then read a statement containing a number of “whereas” clauses ending with the ultimatum that he remove himself from the community within seven days or face suspension from ministry.In a May 30 interview with NCR, Marrone said he asked Lennon for a copy of the document. The bishop refused, telling him, according to Marrone, “that he didn’t want to see it on the front page of the paper” the following day. In his letter to his congregation, Marrone explained to his congregation that the basic charge in the declaration was that the Community of St. Peter was not in communion with the Roman Catholic church and consequently Marrone’s association as its pastor placed the priest outside communion with the church.“I will not comply with this decree and I intend to remain in solidarity with this community and will not remove myself as pastor of the Community of Saint Peter,” Marrone explained in his letter. In a different letter to Lennon, obtained by NCR, Marrone said: “I will not comply with your decree to leave the community of Saint Peter because I must, before all else, follow what my conscience dictates.”What effect the possible suspension -- which would mean Marrone can no longer legally act as a priest -- will have on the Community of St. Peter, which has existed in a kind of canonical, or legal, limbo to this point, remains an open question. A number of community members have expressed a wish that some manner of reconciliation with the diocese would occur, and others have voiced uncertainty about what they would do if Marrone were officially sanctioned.Marrone has called for a meeting the evening of June 4, limited to registered members of the community, to discuss what options remain. Those who attend the community liturgies in a renovated warehouse on Euclid Street and who hoped that Rome would reopen the parish will now have to decide between the two communities...."

Editor's Note: Since it's original posting, this story has been updated with new information.Previous NCR reporting on the Cleveland diocese:

CLEVELAND - Hundreds of Catholics filled St. Colman Church in Cleveland Wednesday night for a prayer vigil in support of Catholic sisters.A dispute is brewing between the nuns and the Vatican over a mandate to intervene and reform the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents 80 percent of the nation's nuns."I feel like they're maligning the integrity of women religious in the U.S. and they have disrespected the leadership in the U.S.," said Sister Christine Schenk, executive director of FutureChurch, a church reform group which organized the prayer service. Similar prayer vigils are being held in 52 other U.S. cities. "Overall, I hope we can work this out," Sr. Christine said, "because the church needs all of us."

Summary of Dialogue:Nuns have embraced issues of justice, poverty and peace,. Vows gave lives to other people.We need a truly "collaborative" model of church with more democratic decision making.Nuns believe that womens rights are human rights, that is Gosepl 101!Vatican is out of touch!Ex-Catholics are second-largest religious "denomination" in Catholic Church.

..."On March 31st of this year I was invited to participate in the
ordination of Edmonton’s first Roman Catholic woman priest. You could say that I
saw the fork in the road and took it. The woman who was ordained belongs to an
international movement known as Roman Catholic Womenpriests or RCWP. She is one
of 10 womenpriests in Canada, with another woman being ordained this July in
B.C. Canada also has one woman bishop...

In a womanpriest faith community all members share the
responsibility of growing the community. Decisions are not made from
the top and then imposed on those below — the model is more like a circle than a
pyramid. At the centre of the circle is our Trinitarian God who binds all
people, all life, together. In these communities, power means having the ability
to empower others. Unity is not confused with conformity and it is found through
welcoming diversity. At the heart of the community is a prayerful attentiveness
to the work of the Holy Spirit within ourselves and our faith community.

Even though the hierarchy has excommunicated all these women, it
has been unable to stop the work of the Spirit within the RCWP movement...."

Dexter lives in Gibbons, Alta., and is married with three
adult sons. She has a certificate in pastoral services from Newman Theological
College and is a certified spiritual director. She can be reached at ldexter@telus.net

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

"Benedict’s papacy has been marked until now by controversies over things he has said and done, such as his criticism of Islam at Regensburg in 2006 or his 2009 decision to readmit four excommunicated ultra-traditionalist bishops to the Church.Now a goal he has failed to achieve — gain control over the Curia — has come back to haunt him. Leaks of confidential documents on everything from Vatican finances to private papal audiences make his papacy look weak and disorganized."Bridget Mary's Reflection:Add to Benedict and the Vatican's issues the following: the hostile treatment of the LCWR/Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the investigation of U.S. nuns, the excommunication of Roman Catholic Women Priests, the new Liturgy- back-tracking on inclusive language and the list goes on and on! But the biggest crisis is the hierarchy's betrayal of the people of God, the moral bankruptcy evident in the global sexual abuse cover-up, the abuse of power and the failure of the institutional church to live up to the Gospels in its treatment of women, youth, the marginalized, all of whom are divine images, beloved sisters and brothers of Christ. No wonder there is a spiritual uprising brewing among Catholics today including nuns and priests. Finally, the Vatican Curia has broken ranks with the Monsignors Mutiny in Vatileaks. What's next, the Pope's resignation, and/or reform of the Curia? Let us pray for a new Pentecost in the Catholic Church! Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP,sofiabmm@aol.com, www.arcwp.org

Over 100 gathered Tuesday evening, May 29th, for a prayer vigil in front of the
Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville to support the LCWR. The gathering was
sponsored by a local CTA chapter as part of the national Nun Justice project
organized by Women's Ordination Conference. Tuesday evening was the first
meeting of the LCWR to discuss their response to the Vatican.

(Reuters) - In Washington, D.C., and Toledo, Ohio, in upstate New York and in south Texas, protesters have gathered in recent weeks with a simple message: Let the sisters be.

"The vigils in cities across the United States are intended to express solidarity with American Roman Catholic nuns, who are struggling to formulate a response to a sharp rebuke from the Vatican.

The Vatican last month accused the leading organization of U.S. nuns, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, of focusing too much on social-justice issues such as poverty and not enough on abortion, gay marriage and euthanasia. The Vatican also rapped the group for standing by as some nuns publicly challenged U.S. bishops on matters of church doctrine and public policy.

In a move that many nuns viewed as an insult, the Vatican put the nuns' organization under the effective control of three U.S. bishops, who have the power to rewrite its statutes, its meeting agendas and even its liturgical texts. The board of the Leadership Conference is due to meet next week in Washington, D.C. to mull a response.

Some prominent nuns have suggested that the Leadership Conference, which was founded in 1956 at the Vatican's request, might dissolve its official ties with the Roman Catholic church and become an independent nonprofit organization. Others argue that the best course may be to stall and hope the Vatican's scrutiny will fade with time.

The Conference includes the leaders of religious orders representing 80 percent of American nuns. Its board declined to comment beyond a statement saying it would "move slowly, not rushing to judgment" and would "conduct its meeting in an atmosphere of prayer, contemplation and dialogue."

But behind the temperate language, many nuns remain furious - and determined to resist the Vatican crackdown.

"Our sisters have fed the hungry, healed the sick and stood with the marginalized, so they're wondering, how can these men in the Vatican criticize us?" said Donna Quinn, a nun from Chicago who helps run the liberal National Coalition of American Nuns.

Submitting to the Vatican's demands would be akin to "allowing an oppressive regime to come in with a hostile takeover," Quinn said.

"Among nuns I know, there's a horror at the whole thing," said Maureen Fiedler, a nun who hosts the public radio show Interfaith Voices.

The Leadership Conference has been a fiercely independent voice in the U.S. church for decades, airing discussions about women's ordination, ministry to gay Catholics and the patriarchy of church culture. It urged dialogue with feminist nuns who refused to attend Mass to protest the central role of the male priest. And it forged ties with liberal Catholic activists, including those who bucked the U.S. bishops to support President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul.

The group's motto: "We risk being agents of change within church and society."

Older Americans, especially, may think of nuns as pious schoolteachers, but "times have changed and so have the sisters," said Russell Shaw, a former spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops who supports the Vatican's move.

Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle, who was appointed by the Vatican to supervise reform of the nuns' group, declined to comment on his approach. In remarks in Rome last month, he took pains to praise American nuns as a "great gift" and said he hoped to work with them "in a way that shows our continued love and support for their extraordinary contribution."

But many of the nuns' supporters aren't feeling that love.

In the past few weeks they have organized vigils outside churches from Anchorage, Alaska to Lady Lake, Florida and in major cities including Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles. Knots of demonstrators - sometimes a handful, sometimes several dozen - pray, sing and give thanks for nuns. More than 50,000 have signed an online petition asking the Vatican to withdraw its order.

"We think the Vatican should be thanking the sisters for their work, not appointing men to bring them back into line," said Al Dabrowski, who has led a weekly vigil since May 8 in San Juan, Texas, on the Mexican border.

Mary Ann Walsh, a nun who serves as spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said some protesters might have misinterpreted the Vatican's action. Church officials demanded reform of the nuns' leadership group, she said, but did not intend to criticize all 57,000 nuns in the United States.

"It's clear that the sisters are appreciated for what they do by bishops and lay people alike," Walsh said.

But many protesters say they do not see the distinction and accuse the Vatican of silencing and marginalizing all women. In recent weeks some pro-nun vigils have added prayers for the Girl Scouts; U.S. bishops have just announced they would investigate the Girl Scouts out of concern that the group might have "problematic relationships" with organizations that support access to birth control. The church teaches that artificial contraception is a sin.

News of the Girl Scouts investigation, coming just after the crackdown on nuns, has many Catholics thinking, "What's next, kittens and puppy dogs?" Fiedler said.

Some conservative Catholics in the United States have welcomed the tough stance, saying it's high time church authorities enforced doctrine and discipline on wayward groups. But Fiedler said the continuing vigils suggest that "in the world of public opinion, the Vatican has been the overwhelming loser."

(Reporting By Stephanie Simon in Denver. Editing by Jonathan Weber and Douglas Royalty)

By John C. Sivalon, M.M.(Note: The author of this incisive analysis is a former Maryknoll superior general who now teaches theology at the University of Scranton. It “connects the dots” between the recent Vatican censure of the LCWR and the retrenchment from Vatican II.)"Under the guise of a “Year of Faith,” the Vatican has launched an all-out assault on any theology or interpretation of Vatican II based on what it calls a “Hermeneutic (Interpretation) of Rupture.” This theological assault is articulated in the document known as “Porta Fidei” written by Benedict XVI and further specified in a document titled “Note on Recommendations for the Implementation of the Year of Faith” which was developed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Both of these documents are cited by Cardinal Levada in his statement on the doctrinal assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). The rationale for that assessment and other punitive moves that have been made in recent months (Caritas International, educational institutes, and the Girl Scouts) must be understood in the broader context of this special “year of assault.”The real crux of the issue according to the “Note” is a “correct understanding” of Vatican II over against “erroneous interpretations.” Benedict likes to refer to these interpretations as being based on a “hermeneutic of discontinuity” while referring to his own interpretation as being based on a “hermeneutic of renewal.” In truth, better labels for these respectively, are a “hermeneutic of mission” over against Benedict’s “hermeneutic of retrenchment.”The hermeneutic of mission sees in the documents of Vatican II an attempt by the Church to rediscover in its past the kernels of fresh understandings and ecclesial structures that respond more authentically and relevantly to what the Council called the modern world. This hermeneutic sees the Council Fathers confirming tradition as a foundation upon which faith can continually build and grow as its context changes. It also sees God as continually present in history and culture, graciously offering new perceptions for understanding and interpreting the fullness of revelation.The hermeneutic of retrenchment, on the other hand, sees in the documents of Vatican II the restatement of ossified doctrines in language that can be understood by the modern world. The hermeneutic of retrenchment regards tradition as a wall which functions to deter erroneous understandings. It also tends to see the modern context of the world negatively, often assigning to it labels such as secularism, relativism or pluralism. As Benedict says, “whereas in the past it was possible to recognize a unitary cultural matrix, broadly accepted in its appeal to the content of the faith and the values inspired by it, today this no longer seems to be the case in large swathes of society, . .” The hermeneutic of retrenchment, hence, longs for the past; for an idealized age of Christendom.Thus, the action against LCWR and the other actions against loyal voices of faithful Christians open to discerning God’s wisdom in modern culture, should be seen as initial forays of shock and awe to soften the strongest areas of resistance, before the actual onslaught begins. That major assault is scheduled for October of 2012, with the opening of the Synod of Bishops on the “New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.” The first working paper (Lineamenta) for this synod clearly sets forth the target of “New Evangelization.”The target is plainly modern culture. According to the document the modern world is epitomized by a culture of relativism, which it says has even seeped into Christian life and ecclesial communities. The authors claim that its serious “anthropological implications are a questioning of basic human experiences for example the relation between a man and a woman as well as the meaning of reproduction and death itself.” Associated with this phenomenon, the document states, is the tremendous mixing of cultures resulting in “forms of corruption, the erosion of the fundamental references to life, the undermining of the values for which we exert ourselves and the deterioration of the very human ties we use to identify ourselves and give meaning to our lives.” Benedict in other places has labeled this pluralism; thus completing his trilogy of the demonic: secularism, relativism and pluralism, as he dreams of a reestablished, romanticized culture of Medieval Europe.In stark contrast, the institutes of women religious dramatically exemplify the hermeneutic of mission: they moved out of “habits” that set them apart from the world; face the challenges of embracing the presence of God in modern culture; and faithfully struggle with being an authentic and clear sign of God’s love for the world. The assessment against them is outrageous for its patronizing arrogance and its patriarchy. But it is also clear that it is about much more: the dramatic fissure within the Roman Catholic church concerning the interpretation of Vatican II and the embracing (or failure to embrace) God’s presence in modern culture.In this assault what is so pernicious, besides the effects on the lives of those immediately and dramatically targeted, is the appropriation of concepts developed by those operating out of a hermeneutic of mission by those who uphold a hermeneutic of retrenchment, who then redefine and use those concepts to defend and support their assault. Three quick examples of this are found in the Statement of Cardinal Levada on the doctrinal assessment of the LCWR and in the doctrinal assessment itself.First, Levada claims that the overarching aim of the Assessment is to assist in implementing an “ecclesiology of communion.” The theologians who developed this ecclesiology based their reflections on the Vatican II emphasis on Church as the People of God, Body of Christ or A Pilgrim People. All of these images were employed by Vatican II to broaden the understanding of Church as being more than the hierarchy. None of these paradigms envision unity as fabricated through force or obedience to doctrine. Rather, unity is seen as flowing out of dialogue and common discernment as the People of God struggle together to be faithful and authentic witnesses of self-emptying Love. Who more than these institutes of religious women epitomize communion founded on faith and lived as self-emptying love?Second, the doctrinal assessment of LCWR defines the sacramental character of the Church almost exclusively as patriarchal hierarchy. Again, the assessment document usurps a Vatican II understanding of Church as sacrament and recasts it. Vatican II on the other hand posits the Church in its entirety as the sacrament of the Reign of God.Finally, in the post-Vatican II period, many theologians from various parts of the world have developed the image of Church as Prophet. They established this vision on a preferential option for the poor, a belief in salvation as liberation and the need to be critical not just of structures of the world but of the Church itself and its role in support of situations of oppression and human denigration. However the assessment document denies any possibility of prophecy aimed at the Church hierarchy itself or separate from that hierarchy. This abhorrent disregard for the Biblical prophets and their strong stance against the priest, kings and empty rituals of faith somehow is not perceived as a rupture with the past or tradition by those operating out of this hermeneutic of retrenchment.As modern Catholics celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of Vatican II, we have entered into a new chapter of church history. The Council that was declared to open the windows is now being reinterpreted as closed shutters, protecting the Church from the gale force winds of a world searching for spiritual authenticity. While said to be a time of renewal, the “Year of Faith” is really dedicated to the idolatry of doctrine, power and hierarchy. The sisters in their communal service to the Church and world, who not only take a vow of poverty but actually live that vow without privilege, status or accumulation of wealth are a vivid and prophetic contrast to the inauthenticity of the call to retrenchment masquerading as renewal."

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

A group of 150+ people, many clad in red for
Pentecost, rallied and processed to the Vatican Embassy on Massachusetts Avenue
in Washington, DC this beastly hot lunch hour. The organizers delivered a
petition to the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, asking that
the Mandate given to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious be
withdrawn.

To the surprise of the crowd, and in a show of
the diplomatic finesse, the Nuncio invited two representatives in for a chat.
They came out and reported to the gathered that he had spent part of the morning
with the LCWR board meeting in Washington, DC. He said that he would deliver
their letter to the Vatican without much expectation that it would change
things. Then a group of 20 people was invited in to see and pray in the
chapel.

..."Few believe butler Paolo Gabriele worked alone to leak dozens of documents shedding light on power struggles, corruption and intrigue inside the highest levels of the Catholic Church. The leaks have tormented the Vatican for months and painted a picture of a church hierarchy in utter disarray.

Gabriele, the pope’s personal butler since 2006, was arrested Wednesday evening after Holy See documents were found inside his Vatican City apartment, adding a Hollywood twist to the already sordid “Vatileaks” scandal. He remains in custody in a Vatican detention facility, accused of theft, and has met with his wife and lawyers.

Gabriele’s lawyer, Carlo Fusco, said Monday his client was “very serene and calm,” despite the whirlwind of speculation surrounding his arrest. He said Gabriele himself had told the Vatican judge investigating the case that he would “respond to all the questions and will collaborate with investigators to ascertain the truth.”

Italian media reported Monday that a cardinal is suspected of playing a major role in the scandal. However, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, denied the reports categorically. He said many Vatican officials were being questioned but insisted “there is no cardinal under suspicion.”

But Lombardi acknowledged that the investigation continues.

And on Monday, Italian daily La Repubblica published a rambling interview with what it described as another Vatican “mole,” someone who described the various agendas at play behind the leaks.

The unnamed leaker said the aim was to show how weak Pope Benedict XVI is, the fears of his secretary of state, and to make clear that the “fundamental role of the church is to defend the Gospel, not accumulate power and money.

Lombardi dismissed as “pure fantasy” such a rash of unsourced reports about the investigation in the Italian media, which have been in a frenzy ever since reports of Gabriele’s detention emerged Friday."

Bridget Mary's Reflection:Sounds like the Vatican Curia is in free fall. I wonder if Vatican authorities in the Detention Center used any "enhanced means" to help Gabriele, the butler became "serene!" Do you believe that there is no cardinal lurking behind the Monsignors Mutiny debacle?One gets the sense that there is much more to come from the unnamed mole. Hollywood producers, Vati leaks has provided the plot, prepare yourself now for a possible blockbuster movie next season! Get your cameras rolling!One could say that the Vatican is the gift that keeps on giving. This has been the case for the Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement. In June we celebrate our tenth anniversary. In 2002, seven women were ordained, now we have around 130 serving inclusive,diverse, justice-seeking communities in Europe, North and South America. We owe much of our growth to the media coverage that has come from Vatican excommunication and the bishops condemnation. Check out the documentary about our women priests movement produced by Jules Hart, "Pink Smoke Over the Vatican." (amazon.com) It is time to return to the earlier model of the people in the local communities electing their bishops and a process that would involve the people of God in the selection of the pope as a point of unity, not as the big boss of the Catholic Church! We need a more circular, participatory and transparent model of governance in the Catholic Church. The Old Boys' Network has messed up big time this time!Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWPwww.arcwp.orgsofiabmm@aol.com

"No cardinal is under suspicion
of being the mastermind behind the "Vatileaks" affair which is rocking Rome,
Father Federico Lombardi, S.J., the Pope's spokesman, told journalists in the
Vatican Press Office shortly after noon today.

Nor has the Pope constituted a
special team of lay investigators, led by a woman, to look into the case and
report back directly to him, Lombardi said.

Both rumors were reported this
morning in the Italian press. (A headline in one paper said "Cardinals Now Under
Suspicion.")

Such headlines are simply
without any basis in reality, Lomabardi told the assembled journalists. He asked
all of the reporters present to show restraint and professionality in reporting
this dramatic and developing story.

Lombardi then read a
declaration from one of the two lawyers representing the Pope's butler, Paolo
Gabriele, 46, who is charged with stealing and disseminating secret Vatican
documents.

The lawyer, Carlo Fusco, said
that Gabriele is now cooperating with Vatican investigators, who are questioning
him.

Fusco said his client is "very
serene and calm," despite the whirlwind of speculation surrounding his arrest.

And he confirmed that Gabriele
has told the Vatican judge investigating the case that he would "respond to all
the questions and will collaborate with investigators to ascertain the
truth."

There has been no information
about what Gabriele is telling his questioners. We do not know if he has
implicated others in the theft of the documents, or whether he has offered some
explanation, or defense, of his actions.

All we know for sure is that a
large number of very private documents, many evidently from the papal apartments
-- including some evidently from the Pope's own desk -- seem to have been
photocopied and leaked to Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi.

Nuzzi's latest book, His
Holiness: The Secret Papers of Benedict XVI, appeared only in
mid-May. It contains images and transcripts of dozens of authentic documents
that paint a picture of chaos and corruption inside the Roma Curia.

The Vatican warned of legal
action against Nuzzi already in January after he broadcast letters from a top
Vatican administrator to the Pope in which the administrator begged not to be
transferred for having exposed alleged corruption that cost the Holy See
millions of euros in higher contract prices. The prelate, Archbishop Carlo Maria
Vigano, is now the Vatican's ambassador to the United States.

Nuzzi is
also the author of Vatican SpA, a 2009 volume laying out shady dealings
of the Vatican bank based on authentic documents left in the estate of a
deceased Vatican official, Monsignor Renato Dardozzi, whose family turned the
documents over to Nuzzi after Dardozzi died in 2003.

Much of the leaked
documentation in the new book concerns issues within Italy: a 2009 scandal over
the ex-editor of the newspaper of the Italian bishops' conference; a secret
dinner between Benedict and Italy's president; and a 2011 letter from Italy's
pre-eminent talk show host, Bruno Vespa, to the Pope enclosing a check for
(EURO)10,000 for the Pope's charity work – and asking for a private audience
with the Pope in exchange.

But there are international leaks as well,
including diplomatic cables from Vatican embassies from Jerusalem to Cameroon.
Some concern the conclusions of the Pope's delegate for the disgraced Legion of
Christ religious order in a memo to the Pope last fall, Cardinal Velasio de
Paolis. (He warned that the financial situation of the order, beset by a scandal
involving its founder, "while not grave, is serious and
pressing.")

Nuzzi opens his book with a
chapter explaining how he obtained the documents.

In these pages, it seems clear
that he dealt with more than one person. He describes a meeting with two men,
then with the two and a third, who may have been Paolo Gabriele.

Unless these passages are
entirely fabricated, it seems certain that there were at least two others who
collaborated with the Pope's butler in delivering these
documents.

The confusion and doubt caused
by these leaks is harmful to the Church's image, of course.

But this crisis could
conceivably offer Pope Benedict an opportunity: he could use the moment to carry
out a thorough house-cleaning.

In this sense, the scandal
surrounding the leak of these documents could be transformed into an opportunity
for Benedict to purify the Church.

Handled in this way, the leaks
scandal could become the most important moment, the defining moment, of this
pontificate."

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/world/02/14/12/monsignors-mutiny-revealed-vatican-leaksReutersVATICAN CITY - Call it Conspiracy City. Call it Scandal City. Call it Leak City. These days the holy city has been in the news for anything but holy reasons."It is a total mess," said one high-ranking Vatican official who spoke, like all others, on the condition of anonymity.The Machiavellian maneuvering and machinations that have come to light in the Vatican recently are worthy of a novel about a sinister power struggle at a medieval court.Senior church officials interviewed this month said almost daily embarrassments that have put the Vatican on the defensive could force Pope Benedict to act to clean up the image of its administration - at a time when the church faces a deeper crisis of authority and relevance in the wider world.Some of those sources said the outcome of a power struggle inside the Holy See may even have a longer-term effect, on the choice of the man to succeed Benedict when he dies.From leaked letters by an archbishop who was transferred after he blew the whistle on what he saw as a web of corruption and cronyism, to a leaked poison pen memo which puts a number of cardinals in a bad light, to new suspicions about its bank, Vatican spokesmen have had their work cut out responding.The flurry of leaks has come at an embarrassing time - just before a usually joyful ceremony this week known as a consistory, when Benedict will admit more prelates into the College of Cardinals, the exclusive men's club that will one day pick the next Roman Catholic leader from among their own ranks."This consistory will be taking place in an atmosphere that is certainly not very glorious or exalting," said one bishop with direct knowledge of Vatican affairs.The sources agreed that the leaks were part of an internal campaign - a sort of "mutiny of the monsignors" - against the pope's right-hand man, Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.Bertone, 77, has a reputation as a heavy-handed administrator and power-broker whose style has alienated many in the Curia, the bureaucracy that runs the central administration of the 1.3 billion-strong Roman Catholic Church.He came to the job, traditionally occupied by a career diplomat, in 2006 with no experience of working in the church's diplomatic corps, which manages its international relations. Benedict chose him, rather, because he had worked under the future pontiff, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in the Vatican's powerful doctrinal office."It's all aimed at Bertone," said a monsignor in a key Vatican department who sympathises with the secretary of state and who sees the leakers as determined to oust him. "It's very clear that they want to get rid of Bertone."Vatican sources say the rebels have the tacit backing of a former secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, an influential power-broker in his own right and a veteran diplomat who served under the late Pope John Paul II for 15 years."The diplomatic wing feels that they are the rightful owners of the Vatican," the monsignor who favours Bertone said.Sodano and Bertone are not mutual admirers, to put it mildly. Neither has commented publicly on the reports.

Whistle-blowing archbishopThe Vatican has been no stranger to controversy in recent years, when uproar over its handling of child sex abuse charges has hampered the church's efforts to stem the erosion of congregations and priestly recruitment in the developed world.But the latest image crisis could not be closer to home.It began last month when an Italian television investigative show broadcast private letters to Bertone and the pope from Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former deputy governor of the Vatican City and currently the Vatican ambassador in Washington.The letters, which the Vatican has confirmed are authentic, showed that Vigano was transferred after he exposed what he argued was a web of corruption, nepotism and cronyism linked to the awarding of contracts to contractors at inflated prices.As deputy governor of the Vatican City for two years from 2009 to 2011, Vigano was the number two official in a department responsible for maintaining the tiny city-state's gardens, buildings, streets, museums and other infrastructure, which are managed separately from the Italian capital which surrounds it.In one letter, Vigano writes of a smear campaign against him by other Vatican officials who were upset that he had taken drastic steps to clean up the purchasing procedures and begged to stay in the job to finish what he had started.Bertone responded by removing Vigano from his position three years before the end of his tenure and sending him to the United States, despite his strong resistance.Other leaks centre on the Vatican bank, just as it is trying to put behind it past scandals - including the collapse 30 years ago of Banco Ambrosiano, which entangled it in lurid allegations about money-laundering, freemasons, mafiosi and the mysterious death of Ambrosiano chairman Roberto Calvi - "God's banker".Today, the Vatican bank, formally known at the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), is aiming to comply fully with international norms and has applied for the Vatican's inclusion on the European Commission's approved "white list" of states that meet EU standards for total financial transparency.Bertone was instrumental in putting the bank's current executives in place and any lingering suspicion about it reflects badly on him. The Commission will decide in June and failure to make the list would be an embarrassment for Bertone.Italian Pope?Last week, an Italian newspaper that has published some of the leaks ran a bizarre internal Vatican memo that involved one cardinal complaining about another cardinal who spoke about a possible assassination attempt against the pope within 12 months and openly speculated on who the next pope should be.Bertone's detractors say he has packed the Curia with Italian friends. Some see an attempt to influence the election of the next pope and increase the chances that the papacy returns to Italy after two successive non-Italian popes who have broken what had been an Italian monopoly for over 450 years.Seven of the 18 new "cardinal electors" -- those aged under 80 eligible to elect a pope -- at this Saturday's consistory are Italian. Six of those work for Bertone in the Curia.Bertone, as chief administrator, had a key role in advising the pope on the appointments, which raised eyebrows because of the high number of Italian bureaucrats among them."There is widespread malaise and delusion about Bertone inside the Curia. It is full of complaints," said the bishop who has close knowledge of Vatican affairs."Bertone has had a very brash method of running the Vatican and putting his friends in high places. People could not take it any more and said 'enough' and that is why I think these leaks are coming out now to make him look bad," he said.Pope 'isolated'Leaked confidential cables sent to the State Department by the U.S. embassy to the Vatican depicted him as a "yes man" with no diplomatic experience or linguistic skills and the 2009 cable suggests that the pope is protected from bad news."There is also the question of who, if anyone, brings dissenting views to the pope's attention," read the cable, published by WikiLeaks.The Vatican sources said some cardinals asked the pope to replace Bertone because of administrative lapses, including the failure to warn the pope that a renegade bishop re-admitted to the Church in 2009 was a well-known Holocaust denier.But they said the pope, at 84 and increasingly showing the signs of his age, is not eager to break in a new right-hand man."It's so complicated and the pope is so helpless," said the monsignor.The bishop said: "The pope is very isolated. He lives in his own world and some say the information he receives is filtered. He is interested in his books and his sermons but he is not very interested in government."

Bridget Mary's ReflectionThe Vatican is in free fall with the "Monsignors Mutiny", the latest revelations of power struggles and corruption, in the Catholic Church.Pope Benedict should reward the whistle-blowers in the Vatican. The butler should not be thrown in a Vatican prison, nor should the Archbishop, who told the tale of ecclesiastical mismanagement, be assigned to the Washington Embassy as a punishment. Who would have thought that the position of Vatican Ambassador to the U.S. was considered a demotion?! Now that is a revelation worth pondering!This whole sorry mess reads like a Hollywood made movie that is over the edge. Way more scandalous than anything Dan Brown or the Di Vinci Code ever imagined. No wonder the institutional church is in so much trouble. No wonder the powerful Cardinals are going after the nuns and anyone else who appears to support women priests, gays and lesbians and contraception. These are merely distractions to take the heat off their own corruption. Ask yourself, what would Jesus do, if he were in the Vatican today. Take a whip and throw them out?Shut it down?! Catholics must take charge of our church, stop the money trail to the Vatican, ( we cannot support a bank that is being investigated for money laundering, can we?) We need to follow Jesus' example live compassion, do justice and love in the heart of God! We need structural reform now. We must be the change we want to see happen in our church and world now. Roman Catholic Women Priests are part of a spiritual uprising that is shaking up the Old Boys Network in the Vatican. For many Catholics, we are a welcome change that is bringing new hope for a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals! Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWPwww.arcwp.orgsofiabmm@aol.com